Thanks for your note George. The information I was specifically looking for is the mechanism by which the parental control code is stored on a DVD; is there a code in some sort of header file, for example, or is the VBI of the video emulated?
It looks like all DVD players support this, so I assume there is a standard somewhere, but it;s being very elusive! Best regards Peter On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 10:09:19 -0800 George Mena <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Peter et al: > > I believe the EIA standard you want is EIA-744, if the USA's FCC is to be > believed: > > http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/1998/fcc98036.html > > Be advised also that EIA-744 will be incorporated into the next edition > EIA-608, and will then be known as EIA-608-B. > > As far as invoking parental controls on certain DVDs, that's actually done > in the firmware of a DVD player's ROM. Basically, parental controls are > password protected, which means you have to read the user's guide to find > the password before the DVD player's parental controls functions can be > accessed. > > If you have a multi-function DVD player/digital set-top box with Internet > access capability, updating your firmware over the 'Net is a no-brainer. > > This excerpted text from the FCC may also be enlightening: "...some > television receivers and video cassette recorders (VCRs) incorporate the > ability to block video programming on a date/time/channel basis. That is, > the user can program the television receiver not to receive a specific > program that occurs at a specific time, or on a specific date or channel. > Such date/time/channel blocking (D/T/C) capability could facilitate the use > of alternative rating systems that are not distributed by line 21." > > I imagine the folks at Philips have already incorporated this feature set > into its line of DVD recorders. > > A second excerpted passage realized even more relevant information: "We > understand that ATSC has now finalized Doc. 193 which includes provisions > for transmitting program related information such as program rating. The > document was approved as an ATSC Standard and assigned the number A/65." > > ATSC is the Advanced Television Standards Committee. They can be found at > http://www.atsc.org > > George Mena > Sr. Technical Writer > ESS Technology, Inc. > Fremont, California, USA > -- > Author: George Mena > INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com > San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message > to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in > the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB CHIPDIR-L > (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may > also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). Peter Vogel ZapTV Pty Ltd 30 Adeline St, Faulconbridge 2776 Australia Tel: 02 4751 8735 Fax: 02 4751 2601 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Author: Peter Vogel INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB CHIPDIR-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
